# Kristen Johnston

Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967) is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sally Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun. She starred as divorce attorney Holly Franklin on The Exes, and as recovering addict Tammy Diffendorf on Mom. She has also appeared in the films Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Music and Lyrics (2007), and Bride Wars (2009).
Her memoir Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster (2012) was a New York Times best-seller. Through her nonprofit organization SLAM, she works as an advocate for sober high schools.

## Early life

Kristen Angela Johnston was born on September 20, 1967. Johnston is the daughter of former Wisconsin Republican state senator Rod Johnston. She is of English and German descent. She grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Whitefish Bay High School in 1985. Johnston earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama at New York University.

## Career

Johnston made her professional stage debut with New York's Atlantic Theater Company, founded by playwright David Mamet, where she appeared in many productions including As You Like It and Stage Door. She performed with the Naked Angels Theater Company in The Stand-In and Hot Keys, and with New York Stage and Film in Kim's Sister with David Strathairn and Jane Adams. For her performance in The Lights at Lincoln Center Theater, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Supporting Actress.
A Carsey-Werner casting agent who saw her in The Lights recommended her for the role of Sally Solomon on the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun. After numerous auditions in 1996, she won the part and starred on the show from 1996 to 2001, winning two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
She made her feature film debut in The Debt, winner of Best Short at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, she played Kate in the film Backfire! She played Esmeralda, a sea hag in Thrill Ride, a family friendly film released in 2016. Her other television credits include guest-starring roles on Chicago Hope, Hearts Afire, and The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. She narrated Microscopic Milton on the Disney Channel. Her significant roles in commercially successful movies include Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas in 2000, Music and Lyrics in 2007, and Bride Wars in 2009. In 1998, she was a spokesmodel for the Clairol company.
Johnston appeared in the sixth and final season of HBO's comedy drama series Sex and the City. In the "Splat!" episode, her character, Lexi Featherston, an aging party girl, accidentally falls out of a window and dies (after saying, "I'm so bored I could die"), prompting Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) to reexamine her life. In 2005, Johnston was featured in six episodes of NBC's ER. In 2009, she was cast as Patsy in a proposed American remake of the British TV series Absolutely Fabulous. A pilot was filmed but it wasn't picked up to series. She had a recurring role in the 2009 season of Ugly Betty, and had a single-episode appearance as a dominatrix in the second season opener of Bored to Death.
She starred in the TV Land sitcom The Exes, which ran for four seasons from November 30, 2011 to September 16, 2015. She played divorce attorney Holly Franklin, whose former clients and friends live across the hall in an apartment she owns. Her memoir, titled Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster was published on March 12, 2012 by Gallery Books. The book became a New York Times best-seller.
In 2018, she began a recurring role as Tammy Diffendorf on the CBS sitcom Mom, and was upgraded to series regular for the show's seventh and eighth seasons (2019–2020). Her character Tammy is Bonnie's (portrayed by Allison Janney) foster sister and Tammy joins the group's AA meetings upon being released from prison in season 6. In an interview with The New York Post, Johnston described Tammy by saying: "She’s probably the dumbest smart person you’ll ever meet. She’s so many things at once. She’s a criminal, but she’s also innocent. She’s clumsy but also very sophisticated. She has no editing button and just says whatever she feels — and it’s usually the wrong thing."
In May 2024, Variety announced that Johnston was cast in Netflix's upcoming comedy series alongside Leanne Morgan. The series was created by Morgan, Susan McMartin and Chuck Lorre. Johnston is set to play Carol, who is twice divorced and is loyal to her sister, Leanne.

## Public image

She appeared on the cover of January 1998 issue of Milwaukee Magazine. She topped the magazine's list of "The Most Intriguing Milwaukeeans". Johnston has also appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide. In 1998, she appeared in a television commercial for Clairol hair care products and voiced a commercial for Starbucks.

## Philanthropy and advocacy

Through her nonprofit organization SLAM (Sobriety, Learning and Motivation), she mentors high school girls from New York City with addiction and self-esteem issues and has campaigned for the city to build a recovery high school.

## Personal life

She dated actor Ryan Reynolds in 1999 and the two attended the film premiere of The Green Mile together.
In her memoir, Johnston discusses an addiction to alcohol and pills that began when she was in high school. She wrote that at the height of her addiction, she drank on average two bottles of wine per evening. In 2021, Johnston said she has been sober for 14 years.
Johnston said she was diagnosed in November 2013 with lupus, which caused her to miss filming some episodes of her series The Exes. A character played by Leah Remini was introduced in season 3 to cover her absence.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | The Orkly Kid | Unknown | Short film |
| 1992 | Amazonia | Unknown | Short film |
| 1993 | The Debt | Alice Kosnick | Short film |
| 1995 | Backfire! | Kate | |
| 1999 | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | Ivana Humpalot | |
| 2000 | The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas | Wilma Slaghoople | |
| 2002 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | Dancer | Uncredited |
| 2005 | Strangers with Candy | Coach Divers | |
| 2007 | Music and Lyrics | Rhonda | |
| 2009 | Bride Wars | Deb | |
| 2009 | Finding Bliss | Irene Fox | |
| 2011 | Life Happens | Francesca | |
| 2012 | Vamps | Mrs. Van Helsing | |
| 2012 | Bad Parents | Tracy | |
| 2013 | The Anonymous People | Herself | Documentary film |
| 2014 | Lovesick | Katherine | |
| 2016 | Thrill Ride | Esmeralda | Nominated–North Hollywood Cinefest's Festival Award for Best Actress in a Feature Film |
| 2018 | Swiped | Professor Barnes | |
| 2018 | For the Love of George | Psychic Sara | Nominated–Orlando Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Performance |
| 2018 | Hurricane Bianca 2: From Russia with Hate | Roksana | |
| 2019 | The Wedding Year | Barbara | |
| 2020 | Small Town Wisconsin | Alicia | |
| 2023 | Loganberry Lane | Other Susan | Short film Indie Short Fest's December Award for Best Ensemble Cast (shared with cast) Nominated–Indie Short Fest's Indie Short Fest Award for Best Ensemble Cast (shared with cast) |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Wendy Smythe | Episode: "Genevieve and Fat Boy" |
| 1994 | The 5 Mrs. Buchanans | Zena | Episode: "Bad News Bert: There's Peanuts in the Peanut Butter" |
| 1995 | Hearts Afire | Margot | Episode: "John and Georgie's Not-So-Excellent Adventure" |
| 1996 | London Suite | Grace Chapman | Television film |
| 1996–2001 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Sally Solomon | 139 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1997, 1999) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or TV Film (1997) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (1997) Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1997—1999) |
| 1997 | Microscopic Milton | Narrator | US version |
| 1998–2000 | Hollywood Squares | Herself | Panelist; 10 episodes |
| 2004 | Sex and the City | Lexi Featherston | Episode: "Splat!" |
| 2005 | ER | Head Nurse Eve Peyton | 6 episodes |
| 2007 | Kim Possible | Warmonga | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | The New Adventures of Old Christine | Francie | Episode: "Too Close for Christine" |
| 2009 | Ab Fab | Patsy | US remake of Absolutely Fabulous. Pilot episode only. Series not picked up. |
| 2009–2010 | Ugly Betty | Helen | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Bored to Death | Mistress Florence | Episode: "Escape from the Dungeon!" |
| 2011–2015 | The Exes | Holly Franklin | Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy or Musical Main role; 64 episodes |
| 2013 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Herself | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Kirstie | Waitress Maddie | Episode: "Maddie vs. Maddie" |
| 2014 | Modern Family | Brenda | Episode: "Strangers in the Night" |
| 2015 | Getting On | Marla Pounder | Episode: "Please Partake of a Memorial Orange" |
| 2017 | Daytime Divas | Anna Crouse | 6 episodes |
| 2018–2021 | Mom | Tammy Diffendorf | 57 episodes Guest: Season 5; Recurring: Season 6; Main: Seasons 7–8 |
| 2019 | Amphibia | Braddock (voice) | Episode: "Prison Break"; replaced by April Winchell afterwards |
| 2022 | Our Flag Means Death | The Widow Evelyn Higgins | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | The Righteous Gemstones | May–May Montgomery | 9 episodes |
| TBA | TBA | Carol | Upcoming Netflix series (an untitled Leanne Morgan project from Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television) |

### Podcasts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2021 | The Pack Project | Veronica | Voice; Episode: "Elevator Bride" |
| 2022 | Marvel's Wastelanders: Doom | She-Hulk | 10 episodes |
| 2022 | Naughty | Pam | 5 episodes |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | The Lights | Rose | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
| 1997 | Baby Anger | Mary Kay Paterson | |
| 1998 | The Skin of Our Teeth | Sabina | |
| 2001 | The Smell of the Kill | Nicky | |
| 2001–2002 | The Women | Sylvia | |
| 2002 | Twelfth Night | Maria | |
| 2004 | Aunt Dan and Lemon | Aunt Dan | |
| 2004 | The Baltimore Waltz | Anna | |
| 2004 | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | |
| 2004 | The Skin of Our Teeth | Sabina | |
| 2007 | Scarcity | Martha | |
| 2006–2007 | Love Song | Joan | |
| 2007–2009 | So Help Me God | Lily Darnley | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (2007, 2010) |
| 2008 | The Understudy | Theresea Rebeck | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1994 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | The Lights | Nominated |
| 1996 | Golden Globe Award | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1996 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1996 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1997 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Won |
| 1997 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1998 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1998 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Nominated |
| 1999 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Won |
| 2010 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | So Help Me God! | Nominated |

## Autobiography

* 2012: Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, Gallery Books, ISBN 978-1451635065